MQM-P withdraws candidate from NA-230 seat in favour of ASWJ leader Aurangzeb Farooqui

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and has established that it is false since the official record from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) did not show any contestant from MQM-Pakistan in Karachi’s NA-230 (Malir II) constituency.

To arrive at this verdict, the iVerify Pakistan team has checked the official list of contesting candidates issued by the ECP on January 21, 2024.

HOW IT STARTED

The earliest mention of the approximately 140-second long clip that the iVerify Pakistan team found was posted by counter-extremism activist Asad Gokal on social media platform X on Jan 23.

The post’s caption said: “Terrible news!! MQM-P withdraws its candidate from NA-230, Malir Karachi, in favour of banned Sipah Sahaba president Aurangzeb Farooqui. Making alliances with hatemongers, terrorists and destroyers of peace and interfaith harmony your way of rebuilding Karachi?”

The post was viewed over 54,000 times and did not identify the time, date or place where the political gathering in the attached video took place.

In the video, people with MQM-P badges of the party’s election symbol of the kite can be seen sitting with Farooqui and a person wearing a turban. The post did not identify the seated people apart from Farooqui.

Farooqui is a key leader of the Pakistan Rah-i-Haq Party (PRHP) — an electoral platform of the proscribed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ). He is contesting the February 8 general elections from NA-230.

At the 29-second mark of the video, the person wearing the turban said: “For the sake of God’s pleasure, I withdraw from NA-230 for my brother Farooqui sahib and I declare my full support for him.”

In response, Farooqui said at the 1:05-minute mark: “Mufti Riaz is a man with very good relations. We came to him today and he expressed his love. He was a candidate from NA-230 and has withdrawn in our favour. I thank him and all his friends. Officials of Muttahida [Qaumi Movement-Pakistan] Malir district are also with us and expressed their love.”

The same video with the same claim about the MQM-P was shared here and here with a view count of 25,000 and 13,000 respectively.

METHODOLOGY

The iVerify Pakistan team sought to determine the veracity of the claim due to the strong nature of the criticism directed at the MQM-P for the supposed electoral alliance while users in comments of many of the examined posts said no such development had occurred.

To corroborate the matter, the iVerify Pakistan team examined the Jan 21 list of candidates issued by the ECP for the upcoming polls.

Checking page 71 of the list for National Assembly candidates from Sindh showed the contestants for NA-230.

Analysing the contestant list showed no candidate nominated by the MQM-P for the seat while Farooqui was present from the PRHP’s platform.

At the same time, Farooqui had referred to the Turban-wearing person as Mufti Riaz. The list showed a contestant named Riaz Raza as an independent candidate for NA-230.

A search for Mufti Riaz Raza yielded a Youtube account of a person delivering sermons who matched the physical appearance in the circulated video.

The iVerify Pakistan team has also reached out to the MQM-P for comment on the matter and will update the report accordingly when received.

FEBRUARY 8 ELECTIONS

With less than 20 days remaining for the Feb 8 general elections, political activity has heated up with rallies, speeches, manifestoes and alliances for the polls.

The MQM-P also held its first major rally in Karachi on Jan 21.

CONCLUSION

The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claim circulating on social media is false as the candidate who withdrew in the shared clip is an independent candidate and not from the MQM-P.

Aurangzeb himself said in the clip that the alleged MQM-P officials present were only there for support and did not say anything about them withdrawing.

This was corroborated by the ECP’s candidate list for NA-230 as well which showed no nomination from the MQM-P.

Evidence and References

January 21, 2024, ECP list of National Assembly candidates from Sindh:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1180jUyjseE7qp_BDQu3QqUJtvoW_nAqz